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Chapter 206: The Red Mountains (3)
The only sound echoing through the night air was the pounding of feet racing across the steep red terrain.
At the front of the group was Oscar, leading the other three with focused determination.
It had already been seven hours since they entered the mountain range.
As the three who had been following behind him watched his back, each came to their own conclusions.
‘…The kid can run, huh?’
‘Even after entering this oxygen-thin highland, his breathing is steady and his pace unchanging.’
‘Hmph.’
As their evaluations suggested, Oscar, who had taken on the role of guide, moved without hesitation—
as if he had crossed this mountain range countless times before.
“……”
Suddenly, Oscar slowed his pace and clenched his fist.
It was a hand signal: Stop.
Oran, gathering behind him, asked,
“Hey, little bro, what’s wrong?”
“…I think we’ll need to change our route.”
“What? Why all of a sudden?”
“There’s a monster up ahead.”
At his words, everyone turned their gaze toward the path ahead.
At first glance, it looked no different from the trail they had been following.
But when Oscar summoned a gentle gust of wind, the red leaves scattered, revealing a thick, blood-red root hidden beneath.
Kaya, with a confused look on her face, asked,
“We’re changing course just because of that root?”
“Yes.”
“Whatever it is, can’t we just cut it and move on?”
Seeing Sasha ready to fire off a spell the moment he said yes, Oscar quickly shook his head.
“That’s not something we can just kill like that.”
“…Wow, if it weren’t for our little bro here, we’d all be dead already.”
Only Oran Quill, who recognized what the root was, muttered with cold sweat running down his face.
Kaya looked at him and asked,
“You know what that thing is?”
“Of course. Have you ever heard of the ‘Five Calamities of the Red Mountain Range,’ Senior?”
“Never heard of it.”
“That’s normal. Unless someone’s crossed this range, they wouldn’t know. Just like dragons, this information is tightly controlled by the Imperial Family.”
The Five Calamities of the Red Mountain Range.
The intriguing term perked up the ears of Kaya and Sasha.
Living up to their curiosity, Oran continued his explanation.
“That thing is one of them. Nicknamed the ‘Mountain Eater.’ The Empire classifies it as an A-level threat.”
“…An A-level threat?”
Kaya narrowed her eyes and looked again at the root.
Threat levels assigned by the Empire were almost never given to single monsters.
Even when they were, it was usually no more than E or F level.
“Even the Cadena Flu, which could kill every human on the continent given enough time, is only ranked as B-level.”
Then what would qualify as A-level?
Knowing the answer, Kaya muttered,
“…So that root alone is dangerous enough that the Empire would have to mobilize its full force to stop it?”
“That’s ridiculous.”
Sasha was visibly shocked.
She knew better than anyone how serious an A-level threat truly was.
“What is that thing exactly?”
“On the fifth peak of the Red Mountain Range stands a massive tree. Some call it the ‘Red World Tree’ because of its enormous size, but its official name is the Mountain Eater. What you see here is just one of its countless roots.”
“Wait, the fifth peak?”
She tilted her head in confusion.
And for good reason—they were currently climbing the second of the range’s seven peaks: Tetra Peak.
“If it lives on the fifth peak, why is its root here…?”
“I told you. It’s the Mountain Eater.”
Oran shrugged.
“That thing’s roots run through the entire mountain range. From the first peak to the seventh, there’s not a place where its roots haven’t been found.”
“…My god.”
The name wasn’t a metaphor—it was literal.
A monster that made its home on the fifth peak but used the entire range as its personal feeding ground.
It was for this reason it had been classified as a full-blown calamity—a disaster worthy of an A-level threat.
“Honestly, humanity should be thankful every day that it can’t move. If it could, we’d all be dead by now.”
“…What would’ve happened if we accidentally stepped on that root?”
“We’d die. Its roots would erupt from the ground and drag the prey down into the depths.”
The Mountain Eater.
The unfathomable being sent a chill down Sasha’s spine as she let out a nervous laugh.
“…Now I understand why the Red Mountain Range is called the graveyard of Masters.”
“Level 7 is just the minimum requirement to enter this mountain range.”
The Red Mountain Range had claimed the lives of many Masters.
And the most terrifying part—there were still four more calamities like this one.
As the group fell into silence, Oran clapped Oscar on the shoulder.
“Man, we owe you big time, little bro! Honestly, I thought you were just running ahead without thinking, but you checked everything, huh?”
“I’m the guide. It’s my job.”
“True enough. Still, you looked so confident out here, I thought maybe you'd crossed this range a few times before.”
“……”
In truth, he had crossed this range more than a dozen times.
In short, he was the best guide alive.
“We’ll rest here for a bit while I reroute us, then head out again.”
As Oscar sat down to adjust the route, the other three took the chance to rest.
While Oscar worked on the map, they chatted among themselves.
“Oran, do you know anything about the other calamities?”
“Not all of them, but I know two more. I’ve even encountered one myself.”
Oran gulped before continuing.
“One of them is the Noise Swarm—a horde of insects in overwhelming numbers. Once you hear the sound of their wings, there’s supposedly no way to survive.”
“Then how are there records of them?”
“The only way to survive is to split up. They only chase a single target. Of course, if that target dies quickly, they’ll immediately go after another prey.”
Sasha, who absolutely hated bugs, asked cautiously.
“Is that swarm also ranked A in terms of threat level?”
“Thankfully, it’s a B-level threat. Still, you shouldn’t underestimate it. From what I know, thirty-two mages from the Red Tower, including seven Masters, were wiped out by them.”
Fire magic is known to burn bugs effectively.
And yet the Red Tower mages, even the Masters, were defeated?
Sasha shuddered, increasingly disgusted by the thought.
“Out of all the disasters, I definitely don’t want to meet that one…”
“Yeah, but don’t think the others are any easier.”
Recalling an old memory, Oran murmured.
“One of the disasters I encountered was something called the ‘Eye Thief.’ It’s an A-class threat.”
“Eye Thief? Does it steal people’s eyeballs?”
“Haha, no. What it steals is people’s gaze.”
Oran had a knack for telling vivid stories.
Perhaps that’s why the night air suddenly felt a little colder.
“It’s 2.4 meters tall, a very slim humanoid monster. Its magic resistance is absurdly high, and if it gets close, it’ll rip its target apart with razor-sharp claws.”
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“So you just have to keep it from getting close.”
“That’s easy. Just looking at it freezes it in place.”
“Wait, then doesn’t that make it easy to deal with?”
“I was thinking the same,”
Kaya chimed in.
“If that’s all it takes, then one person could keep staring at it while the others kill it, right?”
“If it’s attacked, it goes into a berserk state for about ten seconds. During that time, even if you’re staring at it, it moves like crazy. Its speed also doubles.”
“...So it’s the kind you really shouldn’t provoke.”
“We actually encountered it while returning from the Grey Zone. We had to slowly retreat by walking backward while keeping eye contact. But the moment it left our sight, it would reappear right in front of us, so we had to take turns looking at it. It was agonizing.”
“Does it not leave the mountains?”
“I don’t know if it’s by choice or not, but once we descended from the Red Mountains, it stopped following us.”
Oran’s story about the Eye Thief was intriguing.
After listening quietly, Sasha asked,
“But you all managed to work together and escape, right?”
“Hmm…”
Oran’s expression turned strangely grim at her words.
Wearing a faint smile, he began to speak.
“As I said, we encountered that thing while returning from the mountains. At that point, there were fewer than seven of us left. Five of them died instantly after we met it.”
Two died before figuring out how to deal with it.
Three others died after they did—by blinking both eyes at the same time or dozing off momentarily.
Only two survived.
Kaya, her eyes half-lidded, asked,
“How the hell did you survive in that situation?”
“Haha, well…”
He scratched the back of his head with a sheepish look.
“I ran.”
“How?”
“I wrapped the thing head-to-toe in chains and pinned its eyes open so it couldn’t close them. Then I bolted.”
“…”
That party member was probably dead.
Whether from burst blood vessels causing blindness or starvation from being unable to move—
One way or another, death was inevitable.
“Hmph, I see.”
With a strange tone, Kaya nodded and turned her head as if she’d lost interest.
Sasha, meanwhile, found herself unable to trust Oran anymore after hearing him so shamelessly admit he’d betrayed a teammate.
‘If danger strikes, he might sell us out just as easily.’
Criminals in front of her—or behind her—couldn’t be trusted.
She reaffirmed her resolve just as Oscar approached her.
“Route recalculation is complete. Let’s move out again.”
* * *
Two days passed after that without major incidents.
Well, there were a few close calls with imperial or demon patrols,
But thanks to Oscar’s excellent mana detection, they avoided them all safely.
“Brother’s seriously amazing. How does he do that?”
Oran asked, keeping pace right beside the running Oscar.
Oscar shot him a glance that clearly said ‘don’t bother me’ before replying.
“It’s simple. Just spread your mana as thinly and widely as possible, and then sense anything it touches.”
“…Sorry. I’m an idiot for asking.”
What kind of answer was he expecting from a genius who entered the Imperial Academy as top of his class and graduated early?
It was like asking someone how they got good grades and hearing, ‘by studying the textbook.’
Oran shook his head.
“People with talent really are the worst.”
“Effort is more important than talent,” Oscar said, glancing at him.
It was the kind of look that said, ‘You could do it too.’
Oran’s eye twitched slightly at that gaze.
And then came the kicker.
“Of course, if your talent is overwhelming, you don’t need to work as hard.”
“You little—!”
Just as Oran realized he’d been made fun of and shouted, Oscar suddenly came to a halt, his expression hardening.
Oran, confused, muttered awkwardly,
“Huh? I wasn’t that mad. No need to stop like that…”
“I sense other mana nearby.”
At that, Kaya and Sasha also stopped and asked,
“What is it this time? We already passed the imperial outpost area, so is it demons?”
“Don’t tell me it’s another Root of the Mountain-Eater…”
Oscar shook his head at all of their guesses.
Then, wearing an expression of confusion himself, he replied,
“No matter how I look at it… it seems to be human.”
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